Aftermath
by JennyLD
Summary: No, I don't have a new chapter up. Just wanted to let you all know that with school starting soon I have a lot of things I have to get done for my kids so there probably won't be anything new until some time next week. Sorry about the wait!
1. Chapter 1: Aftermath

**Title: **Untitled for now

**Author: **JennyLD

**Rating: **I put it at K+ but I'm really not sure

**Notes: **If you haven't, please review. Since I'm new to writing and Stargate (only been watching for a few years now) I could use all the advice I can get.

**Untitled**

**Chapter 1: Aftermath**

The quiver in her voice was unmistakable. He could sense with every ounce of his being that she was trying, desperately, to sound unscathed. Despite the effort, she was failing miserably.

Daniel knew now that something wasn't right. He stared in shock at the back of Vala's head. Was she actually crying? Had his honest, albeit harsh, judgment upset her that much? No, that simply couldn't be. There is no way she could care that much about what other people thought of her; if she did she certainly would not have led a life of thievery and of treachery for so long...but what if she really was crying? What other reason could there be for the unexpected waterworks? It couldn't possibly be that she was serious about the whole proposition...no, that definitely could not be it. There was no way this whole nasty situation could be anything more then just another game to her. Just another laugh at poor sweet Daniel Jackson, right?

Afraid of finding out the answer but unable to go on without knowing the truth, he tentatively reached out to her. He meant to turn her towards him, to look deep within her eyes for the knowledge that he sought. But he hesitated; she was so very, very tense. He wasn't sure why that surprised him. After all, the way she looked sitting there on the edge of his bed reminded him distinctly of a deer, taut and poised, alert to the slightest scent of danger. She was ready to bolt.

"Look at me," he whispered as gently as he could. His voice was barely audible, even to himself; he doubted she had heard him. She made no attempt to turn to him, she said nothing in response, she just sat there, still silent, unmoving. He could not even feel the rise and fall of her shoulder as she took each breath. Then suddenly he noticed the uncontrollable shaking that comes from someone trying hard to keep their emotions in check. He knew that feeling intimately himself, and now, finally, recognized the truth; she _was_ crying. He could not deny that fact; had no need to look at her face, to look into her eyes to know that he had really and truly hurt her.

He ached for all the cruel words he had just flung at her for he knew with the deepest sense of his being, if not in his head then in his heart and in his soul, what was happening. Yet he could not begin to believe, even for a second, that this woman cared so much for him. She had held him hostage in his own ship, pummeled him with a fire extinguisher, and had always found such pleasure in cracking a joke at his expense. Sure, she flirted with him all the time, hinted at intimacy between the two of them...but didn't she do the same with every man she met? He had always known that was all an amusing diversion for her, so why should he have ever thought it was any different with him?

As frightened as he was of what he would find out, he had to know for sure, "Vala please look at me." He was on the verge of yelling but she still gave no response, no sign that she heard him.

"Vala," again nothing. His eyes flashed in anger. He could not let it go now; he refused to continue on day after day wondering what all of her little "come hither" looks really meant. He had had enough.

"Vala, look at me now!" he had not meant to sound so forceful. He wanted her to look at him, to talk to him, to have an adult conversation with him and straighten this whole awful mess out. He did not want to scare her but he just could not take the silence anymore, it was driving him mad!

But he did scare her. Quick as lightning she was on her feet and rushing towards the door. He would have tried to stop her if he had had the chance. He would have reached out to grab her and pull her back to him but it all happened so fast. He didn't even have the time to utter her name once more before the doors to his room closed behind her.

"What have I done?" he asked the empty room.

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She ran as swiftly as she could but it did not feel fast enough. She had no idea

where she was going, and she did not care. She just knew she had to get away from him. She could not slow down and doubted she could stop. Her legs were too intent on pumping as hard as they could, her mind too intent on forgetting all that had just transpired, her heart too intent on escaping the pain that was still reaching out for her from Jackson's room.

She could no longer see where she was for the tears in her eyes blurred her vision too much. She could not see the corridors fly by or the infinity of space outside the windows. She could not see the rest of the crew as she passed them by and most of them did not see her either. She moved so fast it was like she had not even been there; Carter looked up from her work, sensing a presence nearby but finding no one; General Landry noticed nothing but his collection of beautiful plants that flourished under his gentle hand; Mitchell scarcely avoided running right into her as he jogged past a corridor she had just fled through. Teal'c was the only soul on the ship who witnessed the phantom's passing and knew it for who it was. He saw her pained face and would have stopped her, would have asked her if she was all right, but something made him think the better of it.

She continued to run, down first one corridor and then another. Left, right, and left again. Where she was going did not matter to her; all that mattered was that she kept running. She ran for what felt like hours until finally she hit a dead-end and could run no further. She tried to scream in frustration, but all she could muster was a whimper.

If only they weren't stuck on this damn ship, if only they were on Earth, or some other planet, any planet! At least then she could've kept running until she couldn't run anymore. Instead she was caught, not able to go forward and too exhausted to turn back to find another way.

Bracing her back against the wall she tried to catch her breath. Running and crying at the same time, she decided, was not a good idea. Besides being completely out of breath, her head was pounding so hard it felt as though it would burst with each heartbeat. She had to calm herself. She had to find her own room, or barring that someplace else where she could be alone. If she continued to stand here like this she was certain someone would happen upon her, someone with a million questions she did not want to have to answer. Or worse yet, Daniel would find her.

She could not face him right now. Frankly, she was not sure if she could ever face him again...or if she even wanted to.

Vala closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths; slowly but surely she started to regain control of her body. Her breathing slowed and with it her heartbeat. As soon as she was able to tame the sobs that racked her soul, she balled up her fists and rubbed the unfallen tears from her eyes. As long as she did not think of him again, of his harsh and uncalled for words, as long as she kept her thoughts elsewhere she would be fine. Her head still hurt, but she knew that pain would require some sort of medicine to subside completely.

When at last she finally opened her eyes again and took in her surroundings, Vala was relieved to find she was still alone. There was no one standing about, slack-jawed and staring at the recently bawling space pirate. At least some of the time her luck wasn't crap.

After gaining her bearings, Vala started off cautiously for her room. Though she had pulled herself together quite nicely (she had given her reflection a once over in a nearby window), she still did not feel like making pretense. Everyone was too nice to her here and, as good of an actor as she was it would have been difficult to put on a happy face right now. Besides, though she did not want to admit to it, she was beginning to wonder if any of it was genuine. Maybe Daniel was not alone in his opinion of her, maybe they all felt the same way! Maybe they did not really think of her as a friend and a colleague...

The thought was unbearable.

By the time she reached her room a few minutes later, her mind was made up. She had made a huge mistake and now it was time to make things right again. She was no longer needed here, if she ever truly had been. She was convinced her supposed friends secretly despised her and only kept her on the team because of…what? She wasn't sure, but she knew she had to be right.

After all, if Daniel – dear sweet Daniel – could be so cruel and heartless, how could she expect anything different from the others? She had thought she had cared for all of them...she had thought she had loved _him_…

Vala stretched out on her bed and pushed all thoughts of Daniel Jackson from her mind. Despite her new resolve, going into that territory again would only bring back the fear and indecision, because no matter how much she was now trying to convince herself otherwise, her feelings for him were still there and stronger then ever.

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While Vala tried to keep her mind off _him_, Daniel could not stop thinking of _her_. He sat unmoving for hours in the exact same position she had left him. He had wanted to get up and wanted to chase her down wherever she had run off too. He wanted so badly to, at the very least, apologize to her.

No matter what his true feelings were (he still wasn't entirely sure), his brutal assault on her character was uncalled for. And it was so out of character for _him_, so not "Daniel Jackson", he still could not believe it actually had come from his own lips.

But he could not deny it either. He would not try to excuse it; he was in the wrong and that was that. He needed to hunt her down and explain everything...but he did not.

He was not even certain what "everything" was himself. Why was this one thing so difficult for him to understand? "Daniel, could you decipher these ancient writings for me?" Not a problem. "Hey, Daniel could you mediate between these two races that have been at war for generations?" No problem. "Jackson, how exactly do you use this Ancient device?" Oh, that's an easy one!

But unravel all the tangled up threads of emotions caused by one annoying, but beautiful former space pirate? Impossible!

Eventually, the strain of not moving for so long overcame him and Daniel had to stand. It was a slow and painful process, but after a few minutes of stretching he was able to walk over to one of the many windows lining his room. How long had it been since Vala left? His watch (the only way he could make any sense of night and day on this awful ship) showed midnight, but when had she had first shown up at his door? He couldn't think; if only his head would stop pounding and his stomach would stop growling. Dinner? No, it was too late, and the thought of eating made him feel nauseous anyways.

Physical and emotional exhaustion finally got the best of him. Acting on autopilot he somehow managed to get into a nightshirt and climb into bed, and though he hoped otherwise, the sanctity of sleep did not come easily. He tossed and turned the whole night through, and what little sleep he did find was plagued with disturbing dreams. What they were about he never remembered.


	2. Chapter 2: From Days to Weeks

**Title: **Untitled for now (any suggestions?)

**Author: **JennyLD

**Rating: **Still a K+

**Notes:** Sorry it took so long…I'm a mother of four so it will probably take me about a week to a week and a half per chapter. Please read and review!

Untitled 

**Chapter 2: From Days to Weeks**

Hunger pains nudged Daniel out of a fitful sleep. The aroma of bacon and eggs wafted through his room, commanding an angry growl from his stomach. For a brief moment the receding veil of sleep blurred his memories of the night before, but the reprieve was short-lived. The weariness in his heart would not let him forget for long.

His indecisiveness had weighed heavily on his mind all night and sometime between the nightmares of his subconscious a decision had been made. He cared for Vala greatly, he knew this without question, but he was not nor could he ever be in love with her. He was certain of this, or at least he thought he was…but something, deep down within his soul kept troubling him. He realized _everything_ kept reminding him of her…the scent of her hair, the brilliance of her eyes, her dazzling smile. It seemed he could not banish her from his mind, no matter how hard he tried.

Breakfast, his stomach would not be happy to hear, would have to wait. The sooner he was completely straightforward with Vala, the sooner he could get her out of his head. The urgency of his need for closure overcame his dread of the upcoming conversation and Daniel dressed quickly before heading to her room.

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Vala knew he was coming.

She had arisen earlier then usual this morning, knowing he would come to her. He would want, no need, to talk…to straighten things out. That was just who Daniel Jackson was.

She had initially toyed with the idea of not being here when he arrived but she knew she would not be able to avoid him forever. Besides, prolonging this whole ordeal would not make things any easier for her. So she forced herself out of bed, showered, dressed, did her hair, all the things that a woman does to get ready. It was routine and with routines came a sense of familiarity, and the familiarity brought comfort – something she needed a lot of right now.

When at last she was ready she sat near the window…and waited.

Time passed slowly and she realized the others were probably gathering for breakfast. She almost hoped he would not show and she could hide out in her room a little longer. But no, that would not do and she knew it. She had to feign normalcy for as long as was needed in order to carry out her escape plan when they made it back to Earth. So when the alarm on her watch beeped for 0700 hours she rose from her chair and started towards the dining room…

…And ran right into him just outside of her doorway.

She startled but quickly managed to recover her poise and steeled herself for the unpleasant scene about to take place. Putting on what she hoped would be a believable smile, she linked arms with the unsuspecting archeologist, leading him toward the familiar sounds of Landry setting the table.

"Daniel," she purred at him, "join me for breakfast?"

He did not respond at first. Already flustered from their sudden collision, her chipper demeanor caught him completely off-guard. For a second, he forgot why he was there in the first place and allowed her to drag him halfway down the hall before his senses came back to him.

"Wait a second Vala," he slowed and turned her to face him. "I…we…I need to talk to you about what happened last night."

"Oh Daniel, don't be silly," she replied, patting him on the arm like a child. "It was all just one big misunderstanding. Ok?"

"Um, yea, ok…I mean no. No it's not ok," he had rehearsed this conversation in his mind repeatedly and it had gone nothing like this. Placing his hands on her arms he held her gaze with his eyes and continued, "It's not ok because what I said and how I acted, was inexcusable. For that I owe you an apology."

Vala rolled her eyes and forced out a giggle. "Daniel, poor sweet Daniel, no apology necessary. You were right. I was bored and, well, I think I had just a little too much of your Earthly ambrosia," she tilted her head and pantomimed pouring a bottle into her open mouth.

"Oh…I…ah…see," he said, stunned by her unexpected revelation.

"I suppose I really should be more careful," she continued as though she had not noticed the extra step he put between them. "Next time I'll probably end up in Teal'c's room instead," she winked at him as a sly smile played across her lips.

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The rest of the day she gave him the silent treatment. At first he could not tell if she was actually trying to avoid him or if she was just too damn busy to be bothered by anything he might have to say. He was not certain which he would have preferred, but her behavior had him thinking it was the latter.

At lunchtime, she shimmied up to Mitchell and whispered in his ear, making the Colonel blush a red Daniel would not have thought humanly possible. Some time later he found her trying desperately to tickle a very wary looking Teal'c under his chin. The rest of the day she kept herself busy, helping Landry with his plants or listening raptly as Sam explained to her one new Asgard technology to another.

Daniel had always felt he was good at reading people but the recent turn of events left him scratching his head in confusion. One minute she was all over him and the next she couldn't care less? What the hell was going on with her? She said she had been drinking but he didn't buy that for a minute. Still, nothing else made any sense. She was acting so completely Vala-esque that he had a hard time not accepting her statement that it had all been a faux paus.

What was he supposed to believe?

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By the end of the day Vala wanted to scream. Acting had always come so easily to her. Even as a young girl she had been able to con other kids, and adults too, into believing any of her tall tales, but this time was different.

Back in the safety of her own room, she breathed a sigh of relief and dropped the charade, falling into bed exhausted. How she was going to continue this day-after-day was beyond her. The one solace she had was that everyone appeared to be falling for her little farce, even Daniel.

She had caught him watching her out of the corner of her eye. He had looked shocked, appalled and, yes, even hurt. It was never her intention to upset him, but if her plan was to work she knew she would just have to deal with a few bruised feelings along the way.

Of course said plan would never come to completion if they weren't able to get off this ship. She had nothing but respect for Sam (in fact, deep down she hoped that if any of them could truly be called a friend it was her) and Vala was certain Sam would eventually find a way out of this predicament. Still, it had been 3 months already! What if she never managed to figure it out and they were stuck here forever? Vala just could not imagine spending the next 50 years rotting in this awful prison.

The thought, having never crossed her mind before, was so horrifying she swore right then and there as she drifted off to sleep that she would offer her assistance to Sam first thing in the morning.

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Vala kept her promise and the very next day she began helping Sam in her hunt for a solution to their problem. Though the work was tedious and usually boring, she found that it helped keep her mind occupied and, sometimes, she actually enjoyed herself.

Daniel also kept himself busy, burying his head in the Asgard database. It was a perfect excuse for avoiding her, and everyone else for that matter. By now it was common knowledge that he would often spend numerous hours holed-up with his research.

Neither spoke to or even looked at the other from that day on. It was not difficult; they rarely even saw each other, just as they had each secretly hoped. And when they did happen to run into one another, they made it a point to avoid any and all contact, moving to opposite sides of the hallway, not making eye contact, etc.

However, if they thought that no one had observed anything amiss, they were wrong.

Sam, in particular, had noticed that the two of them were acting very strangely. She realized Vala was spending every waking minute helping her find a way of the ship, and though she appreciated the help greatly, she could tell it was not all a selfless act –there was some other motivation behind it. And though she had seen Daniel hole up his room numerous times in the past, she knew it was not just the love of knowledge that kept him away. She sensed something was going on between them, she just couldn't figure out what.

When she brought up her concerns with Teal'c, he revealed to her what he had witnessed the night Vala had run from Daniel's room and she considered confronting Vala, but did not know what she could say.

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"I think we should just ignore it," Mitchell put his feet on the table.

A week later, after Daniel failed to show up for dinner again and Vala had excused herself to bed with a headache, Sam found herself finally discussing those same concerns with the rest of the team.

"How can we just ignore the fact that both of them are obviously hurting over something?" Sam implored, her voice tinged with frustration.

"We can because it's none of our business," Mitchell replied.

She sighed. Before heading off to bed himself, Landry had revealed happening upon a teary-eyed Jackson leaving his own room one morning. Landry said that when he inquired if everything was all right, Daniel had brushed him off, saying his allergies were acting up again. They all had to realize this was a lie since Daniel had not had a flare up for years now.

"Look Sam, I understand you're worried, I am too, but we just can't go sticking our nose in their personal affairs without some sort of an invite," Mitchell continued. "If they wanted us involved they would have told us so."

Sam looked to Teal'c for support, but he just sat there with a blank expression on his face, as passive-looking as usual.

"I guess I thought you'd care a little more," she was becoming agitated now. "In the last week Daniel hasn't left his room for more then five minutes."

"Sam, I do care, but Daniel's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

"And Vala…?"

"Vala's emotionally unstable and always has been, but she's still an adult…. well...sort of."

Sam glared at Mitchell for a few seconds before leaving the room; obviously she wasn't going to get anywhere with the two of them. She realized that she would have to take care of this on her own or not at all. First thing in the morning she would set Vala down and have a little heart-to-heart with her.

They did not know Vala had been listening, did not see her standing in the doorway, her mouth now agape. She had come back for an extra piece of cake – it was so scrumptious she just couldn't resist – and noticed they were involved in a heated discussion. She had tried not to listen in but…

"Vala's emotionally unstable and always has been but she's still an adult…well…sort of."

That was all she heard before rushing back to her room and slamming the door behind her. That was it, "the last straw" as the Earth saying went. She had been trying so hard these past few weeks and some days she was almost convinced it was all one big misunderstanding on her part. They seemed so accepting, so genuinely glad to see her, especially Sam, but at the same time she saw the looks they gave her when they thought she didn't see. She had noticed how they lowered their voices when she came into a room. She was not blind, nor was she an idiot. She just hadn't wanted to accept it for what it was and now she had to.

She made no attempt at making excuses this time but set about preparing herself for her departure. The first time she had considered using the simple-yet-disastrous plan she and Sam had talked about she had pushed it into the back of her head. This was not the way she wanted to end it, or at least it hadn't been before. Now? Now she did not care.

So she packed the few things she felt she could not live without and went over the calculations she and Sam had made. This was the worst-case scenario plan they never wanted to implement…with a slight modification.

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Sleep did not come easily to Sam that night. She tossed and turned for two hours, unable to keep her mind off Daniel and Vala. The clock on her nightstand read 1:00am and she knew everyone else was in bed by now. Even Daniel left the Asgard database for the comfort of his bed by 10 at the latest. She sighed and threw on a bathrobe before heading for the dining room.

She had wanted to go to his room or Vala's and figure this all out but it was too late for that now. Instead she opted for a midnight snack, pausing when she heard noises coming from the control room. Despite the fact that there was no way for an intruder to get onto the ship, she tensed and looked around for some sort of weapon. Finding none, she quietly slipped through the doorway to investigate. What she found was more surprising then anything her paranoid mind could have come up with.

Vala, clad in street clothes with a sack slung over her shoulder, was bent over one of the control panels punching buttons furiously. Sam could only stare in confusion until Vala turned, a look of surprise on her face. Before Sam could ask her what she was doing, a shade of sadness crossed Vala's face and she mouthed the words "I'm sorry."


	3. Chapter 3 Divided They Fall

**Title: **Untitled

**Author:** JennyLD

**Rating: **I'm moving it up to a T, just to be safe

**Notes: **Once again, my apologies for taking so long. This chapter has been one big headache for me, even though initially it was completely written before I even had an outline for chapter 2…but then I had to rewrite the whole thing.

BTW, I am looking for a couple of beta's, if anyone is interested. My husband (an excellent writer) has been spending most of his free time helping me, at the expense of his own writing and various other projects. This is actually part of the reason it's taking me so long to complete a chapter as our free time together is quite limited. So if anyone is interested in helping me out please let me know.

Untitled 

**Chapter 3: Divided They Fall**

"One minute I'm sleeping peacefully in my bed then all of a sudden _bam_, I'm half-naked in the middle of nowhere! What the heck happened, Sam? Where's the Odyssey?" Mitchell asked as he patrolled the perimeter they had established wearing nothing more then a pair of sweat pants.

In the quarter of an hour they had been here, all they had managed to come up with was that they were most likely on P3X-474, the same planet they had sent the crew to just before activating the time-dilation field. They had arrived on what appeared to be some sort of rocky plateau surrounded by a small but dense forest whose canopy was situated somewhat below their current elevation. It was difficult to tell just how high up they were as it was mostly dark; the only illumination a faint reddish light in the distance that resembled the glow of a setting sun.

After the initial shock of waking under a blanket of cold stars instead of warm linens, they had set about securing the area and building a small fire for both light and heat. It was then that they realized Vala was nowhere to be found. Sam was certain she too must have beamed off the ship but she had obviously arrived someplace else.

Teal'c had volunteered to look for her, but he had not been gone long before returning with a look of defeat on his face and bits of foliage and earth camouflaging his teddy bear pajamas. As he picked burs out of his hair, he informed them he had found no sign of Vala Mal'Doran and could no longer continue the search, as it was too treacherous to go very far without a light source.

Sam had been trying desperately to ignore the questioning stares the rest of the team had been giving her since their arrival. She was not looking forward to sharing the news of how they had ended up here...how one of their own had deceived and deserted them. With Teal'c back, however, she no longer had a reason to stall. She rose from the rock she had been sitting on, handed her pink bathrobe to a shivering Mitchell, and braced herself. This was definitely not going to be easy.

"It's alright Sam, just start at the beginning," Daniel said patiently, giving her an encouraging smile.

"Well, I was having a hard time sleeping," she began slowly, "So I decided to take a walk and maybe get myself a little midnight snack. As I was passing the control room I heard a noise and…well, I guess I kind of freaked out when I remembered what Vala had said about the Ori coming aboard the ship. I knew it was ridiculous but…" she shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.

"Anyway, when I entered the room, I saw Vala there. I wasn't sure at first what she was doing, but then I got a good look at the computer screen and I realized that she…" she trailed off. Despite her own anger over Vala's actions she still did not like the feeling she was betraying her friend.

"What did you see, Sam?" Landry spoke up, concern marking his features.

She took a deep breath then managed to blurt out, "Vala was punching in the sequence to start Merlin's out-of-phase device."

"What?" Mitchell exclaimed as the others gasped in surprise. "Wasn't she there for the little infomercial you had us watch? Or was she sleeping in class again?"

"No, she knew full well the consequences of using the device. She was the one who ran the simulations with me."

The whole team was in shock; how could one of their own do this to them?

Teal'c, though he concealed most of his emotions well beneath his typically stoic face, turned his head away, his cheeks quivering. Landry stared up at the heavens as if looking for the ship, which could no longer exist. Mitchell shook his head and started whipping small twigs into the fire while Daniel…

Daniel was definitely taking it harder then the rest.

"What the hell did she think she was doing?" he demanded as he paced erratically in front of the fire.

"I wish I knew," Sam looked sympathetically at her irate friend. She appreciated his frustration; she didn't understand any of this either.

"You mean to tell me she didn't say anything at all to you!" he turned and looked at her accusingly, hands on hips.

"No, as a matter of fact she didn't," Sam told him then looked imploringly at the rest of the team, "I really wish I knew what to tell you but I have absolutely no idea why she would have done this."

"It's alright Sam, we…" Landry began but Daniel cut in before he had a chance to finish.

"How could you not know, Sam? Vala spent every waking minute with you these last few weeks. You can't tell me that despite all of your…your girl talk she didn't say a single word to you about her plans," his voice had steadily risen until he was practically screaming at her.

"I'm telling you the truth, Daniel," she pleaded with him.

"Somehow I doubt that," he snarled viciously.

That was it, the last straw. His tone had become increasingly more insulting with each statement and she was not about to put up with this kind of abuse from him. Sam was on her feet and across the space that separated them in a matter of seconds, staring him down, nose-to-nose.

"Maybe _you_ should be the one we're interrogating here, not _me_," she yelled back, jabbing a finger into his chest.

Daniel stepped back and stared at her in confusion for a moment before a sneer wound across his face, and he spat forth the most acid tone Sam could ever recall hearing come from his lips, "Why would I know what was rattling around in that _messed up little head_ of hers?"

Now it was Sam's turn to recoil. The only time she could remember that much smoldering fury in Daniel's eyes was when they had cut him off from his sarcophagus addiction. She had never expected to see him like that again.

"All right everyone, break it up," Landry came over and stood between the two of them, "There's no need to be pointing fingers at each other, so let's all just calm down and…"

"Ah, sir," the General was interrupted for the second time in a row, this time by Mitchell, "we have a problem…"

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The tone in Mitchell's voice was unmistakable: something gravely important required their immediate attention. After serving the SGC for all these years it was second nature to heed their commanding officer and they quickly left their disagreement behind, marching over to where the rest of the team had gathered. Once there they stopped and stared in stunned silence in the direction Cam was pointing. What they saw churned their stomachs.

Below them and slightly to the east, awash in the blue light of an open Stargate, the crew from the Odyssey was in the midst of a life and death battle with a small group of Origin soldiers. Despite a valiant effort, the M9's they had been equipped with were no match for the Ori staff weapons; the crew was losing, brutally fast.

"Sir, permission to provide assistance in kicking some Ori butt?" Mitchell asked eyes glued to the horrific scene unfolding below.

"I do not believe that would be wise," Teal'c interjected before the General could respond.

"Why's that Teal'c?" Landry asked.

"As I stated earlier, the way down is quite treacherous and footholds are hard to come by. I nearly fell many times during my brief search for Ms. Mal Doran."

"And?" Mitchell turned to face the Jaffa.

"And we would not arrive in time to make any sort of a difference."

"And?"

"And we have no weapons with which to defend ourselves."

"_And?_"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in Cam's direction, "I am sorry, Colonel Mitchell but it would be a fool's errand to attempt any sort of a rescue mission under these circumstances."

"And I suppose you agree with him," Mitchell whipped around to face Landry.

"I'm sorry, son, but Teal'c has a good point. I can't let you risk your lives for nothing."

"WHAT?" Mitchell exploded, gesturing to the men dying below, "You really mean to tell me that we are just going to stand here and watch while good men are shot down? That's 'nothing'?!"

"I'm sorry, but my decision is final," Landry frowned as he spoke, his expression betraying the buried desire to countermand himself and rush foolishly down the ridge in the dark, "Now, someone please put out that fire before we are detected, too."

"With all due respect, Sir…" Mitchell tried again, forcefully.

"Airman, you are walking a very thin line that is about to end in insubordination. I am your commanding officer and you _will_ follow my orders. Now stand down!"

For a few tense moments Mitchell did not move, fuming. Finally, though, he walked away with as much dignity as he could muster and went to extinguish the still burning fire himself.

Landry and the others remained where they were, agonizingly watching the remnant of fighting by the gate. Some of the crew had managed to make it through, but most were on the ground either dead or dying. Their identities masked by the distance, a few crewmen remained, but it was obvious they too would soon fall.

Not wishing to watch the horrifying end of the vicious slaughter, one-by-one the team left their vantage point to find a semi-comfortable position for the night. They spread out as best they could over the small plateau, Mitchell sitting as far from Landry as possible and Sam keeping her distance from Daniel, who avoided all of them. Teal'c sighed and offered to take the first watch.

It was going to be a long night.

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After a restless night they rose early the next morning. With no supplies to pack, it did not take them long to break camp and begin the trek down the side of the plateau. Though the path they found was well worn, Teal'c was right, it was tough going. Even Mitchell realized, grudgingly, there was no way they could have managed it safely with no light to guide them.

Daniel, last in line, slowed his pace enough to allow the rest of the team to get ahead of him and in the conversational void, his thoughts turned to Vala. What in the world had gotten into her, attempting such a dangerous scheme? She could have easily killed them all with a simple touch of a button. Yes, she was probably going crazy with boredom, but enough to do something so…so _stupid_?

He refused to even entertain the thought that it could have had anything to do with their fateful conversation weeks earlier. Then again maybe things had been worse between them then he thought, maybe she had done all of this because of him. But then did that mean that Sam knew too, that Vala had told her everything? Did the rest of the team also know?

Though he did not want to accept it, it made perfect sense. None of them had come looking for him when, day-after-day, he hadn't shown for meals. Now that he thought about it, he could not remember the last time he had spoken with any of the team before last night. That was it then; they must know, all of them. They knew and they had taken her side without even hearing what he had to say about the matter.

How _dare_ they?

A loud crash startled him out of his reverie and when he looked up he found himself completely alone in the woods. The path they took had not been hard to follow but lost in his own thoughts Daniel had managed to lag so far behind that he now had no clue where they were.

Anger set in; why couldn't things just go his way once? He kicked at a tree in frustration and pain shot through his foot. _Damnit!_

Ripping off his glasses he wiped them on his shirt and put them back in place, only to rip them off again and repeat the process. A migraine was setting in but he ignored it, pacing erratically on the short section of trail he could identify, like some sort of caged animal. He had been so lost in his own thoughts he did not even realize he was no longer alone until he almost ran right into her…again.

"Daniel," she gasped, as surprised to see him as he was her.

He stared at her for the longest time; rage ruling over the shock of finding her here. "Why'd you do it, Vala?" he finally asked, the scorn in his voice unmistakable.

She stared at him, mind in turmoil; there was much she wanted to say, so many things she wanted to explain. Yet for the first time in her life she found herself tongue-tied.

"Don't tell me, cat's got your tongue," he snickered cruelly, "I don't believe I've ever seen Vala Mal Doran speechless."

She flinched at the mocking tone of his voice but was finally able to squeak out a simple, "I'm sorry, Daniel."

"You're sorry?? That's it? That's all you have to say for yourself?" He threw his hands in the air in frustration, "Vala, you just single-handedly destroyed the legacy of an entire race. You! All by yourself."

He started pacing again, making angry motions with his arms. "The Asgard are no more and all you can say is, 'I'm sorry?' No, Vala, I'm the one who's sorry. I'm sorry we will learn no more from them. I'm sorry that their technology, which would have helped in the fight against the Ori is gone forever. And I'm sorry that 'sorry' just doesn't cut it this time." He was screaming at her now.

She could see the rest of the team out of the corner of her eye; they had obviously heard the commotion and turned around. She saw the expression on Sam's face, the same one she had witnessed before beaming them all off the Odyssey…the one of utter and complete anguish…and confusion. Daniel was losing control and, in the process, hurting his friends. All because of her.

"It seems all I do lately is bring out the worst in you, my Daniel," she whispered.

"Don't call me that, Vala," his icy response conjured up an image of Ba'al that made her shudder, "Do not ever use that, or any other endearing term again to describe me. I am not, nor will I ever be, _your _Daniel."

She flinched visibly as if he had hit her, "I know my apology could never be enough and I do not expect you to forgive me, Daniel."

He stopped his furious pacing and turned fully towards her, arms crossed, glaring and waiting as if he expected something more from her.

"I know you won't believe me, hell, you probably don't even care at this point, but I did not mean for this to happen. I just needed…" no, she would not go there, would not allow him that satisfaction, "I had my reasons."

Her voice softened and she looked deep within his eyes as if searching his soul for something she knew she would never find, not anymore.

"I am sorry, Daniel…more then you'll ever know."

She turned to leave, wishing that he would try to stop her. Despite her resolve she still imagined him pulling her into his arms, forgiving her for everything. What she received instead was an unexpected peal of laughter directed at her backside.

"Back to running again huh, Princess?"


End file.
